NPR News Now - NPR News: 11-04-2024 4PM EST

Episode Date: November 4, 2024

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Lakhshmi Singh Enjoying the podcast so far? Get more from shows like this one with NPR+. For a simple recurring donation, you'll get perks from over 20 NPR podcasts, including sponsor-free listening, bonus episodes, early access, shop discounts, and more. Join us in making the world a more curious and well-informed place at plus.npr.org. Live from NPR News in Washington, I'm Lakshmi Singh. The presidential campaigns are in the final make or break hours of closing arguments on the cusp of Election Day. According to the final NPR PBS News Marist poll of this cycle, Vice President Kamala Harris holds a four-point lead over former President Donald

Trump among likely voters nationally. However, that's roughly the margin of error. So neither has a clear advantage in this election. Both Trump and Harris are making a fierce push for votes in Pennsylvania today, where its 19 electoral votes offer the biggest prize of the most crucial, battlegrounds. NPR's Deepa Shivram reports Harris started by rallying with supporters at a canvas kickoff in Scranton. Harris told the crowd they should enjoy it as they try to get out the vote and shared an anecdote about her first run for office in 2003 when she'd campaign outside grocery stores using an ironing board as a standing desk.

And I would require people to talk to me as they walked in and out of the grocery store. And I will tell you, that is how I love to campaign. I don't do it as much anymore, obviously. Harris did not refer to former President Trump by name in her remarks, but called him, quote, the other guy and said his political era has been about making people feel alone. Deepa Sivaram, NPR News, Granton.

Here's former President Trump a short time ago in Reading. If we win Pennsylvania, not me, if we win Pennsylvania, we win the whole ball of wax. Trump says if elected he's open to reconsidering fluoride and drinking water. That's a central issue for Robert F. Kennedy Jr., who may be advising Trump on the federal health policy if he wins tomorrow's election. And PR Selena Simmons-Duffin reports public health experts are alarmed by the comments. Dr. Paul Offit is with the Children's Hospital of Philadelphia. Fluoride's been well tested. It clearly and definitively decreases cavities.

Over the weekend, former President Donald Trump's rival-turned ally Robert F. Kennedy Jr. declared that on inauguration day, Trump would advise all U.S. water systems to remove fluoride. Robert F. Kennedy Jr. is a science denialist. He makes up his own scientific truths and ignores the actual truth. Kennedy is urging all his supporters to vote for Trump so he can be empowered to quote clean up corruption at the federal health agencies like the Food and Drug Administration and the National Institutes of Health.

Selena Simmons-Duffin and PR News Washington. More severe weather's on the way from the southern plains into the Ozarks and the mid-Mississippi Valley. The National Weather Service projected thunderstorms linked to tornadoes, large hail, and damaging winds today. Parts of Oklahoma are recovering from twisters that injured at least 11 people over the weekend. The Dow Jones Industrial Average has closed down 257 points to end the day at 41,794. This is NPR News. Eight people charged with the beheading of a teacher in France are on trial today in

Paris. The victim, Samuel Patti, was killed outside his school in 2020 after showing caricatures of Islam's prophet, Muhammad, during a class about freedom of expression. More than a month after Israel launched its ground offensive against Hezbollah in southern Lebanon, the Lebanese Health Ministry reports the conflict has claimed more than 3,000 lives. In Israel, 72 people, including dozens of soldiers, have been killed in Hezbollah attacks. Scientists have long known that being exposed to light at night can be detrimental to our health.

NPR's Will Stone reports on new research that shows how much light we get and when can have major consequences. Nearly 90,000 people in the UK wore a light-sensing device for a week. Then researchers based in Australia analyzed their risk of dying over the next eight years. They found bright nights were associated with an increased risk of mortality. The top 10% who had the brightest evenings had a 34% increased risk of dying compared to those with darker evenings. On the other hand, people with the brightest days had a substantially lower risk. Daniel Windrid, the study's lead author, says the

best thing to do is get outside. There's like a massive jump in the intensity between an indoor and an outdoor light environment. In fact, research shows that brighter light during the day can make you less sensitive to disruptions in your circadian rhythms at night. Will Stone, NPR News. I'm Lakshmi Singh, NPR News in Washington.